Brush Prairie man gets 40 years for killing father

Lack of remorse earns Troy Fisher longer sentence

Troy Fisher is sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison by Clark County Superior Court Judge Barbara Johnson for the August 2011 murder of his father, Edward "Bud" Fisher. (Steven Lane/The Columbian)

Edward "Bud" Fisher was killed at the age of 67 in August 2011 at his Brush Prairie home. (handout)

Troy Fisher was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison by Clark County Superior Court Judge Barbara Johnson for the August 2011 murder of his father, Edward "Bud" Fisher. (Steven Lane/The Columbian)

Troy Fisher showed no emotion Wednesday as a Clark County judge sentenced him to 40 years in prison for murdering his father, Edward "Bud" Fisher.

He also ignored his family's pleas to disclose the location of Bud Fisher's body, which has been missing since the August 2011 murder in Brush Prairie.

Before the sentencing, Bud Fisher's three daughters, son-in-law, sister and friend spoke of the 67-year-old's generous and caring nature. Although Bud Fisher wrestled to overcome alcoholism and used some rough language, "his heart was bigger than his entire body," said Terrie Hasan, Bud Fisher's daughter. "He would just give until he couldn't give anymore."

That included offering Troy Fisher work and a place to stay after a divorce and layoff, Hasan said.

"The one thing I ask of Troy is to tell us what he did with Dad, so we can lay him to rest with the respect he deserves," said Trudy Allen, Bud Fisher's daughter.

Instead, Troy Fisher said that his sisters didn't understand the situation.

"My sisters have always been good to me," Troy Fisher said. "We've always been fairly close, but unfortunately, they grew quite distant from me and my father. They didn't know what was going on."

He didn't elaborate.

As Superior Court Judge Barbara Johnson announced his sentence, Fisher swiveled back and forth in his chair.

Johnson said some of the moments during Fisher's trial were among the most "chilling" she has experienced on the bench. For instance, she said, she saw Bud Fisher alive, via surveillance video footage, shopping at a home improvement store. Then, prosecutors showed surveillance footage of Troy Fisher the next day at a home improvement store, buying fire logs, which he later claimed he used to burn his father's body.

Fisher was convicted April 30 of first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement and an aggravating circumstance, which was lack of remorse. The aggravating circumstance allowed the judge to sentence Fisher to more time than the state's standard range of 25 to nearly 32 years, with the firearm enhancement.

"It isn't long enough," Allen said of the 40-year sentence.

Prosecutors said Fisher shot his father twice on Aug. 7, 2011, at their Brush Prairie home and then stole several thousand dollars from the victim's two bank accounts.

He confessed to the shooting in a Sept. 19, 2011, recorded interview with Clark County sheriff's detectives.

Troy Fisher claimed he cremated his dad's body in a trash pile in the yard, according to the recorded interview. A forensic anthropologist, however, testified there was no sign of a body in the burn scar, where Fisher said the cremation took place.

Fisher also told detectives he disposed of bloodied carpet from the home, according to the recorded interview. A detective found the carpet, and tests found the blood belonged to Bud Fisher, according to a forensic scientist.